This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
The passenger doors on most motor vehicles are mounted by a pair of door hinges to the vehicle body for swinging movement about a generally vertical pivot axis. Such swinging passenger doors have recognized issues such as, for example, when the vehicle is situated on an inclined surface and the door either swings opens too far or swings shut due to the unbalanced weight of the door. To address this issue, most passenger doors have some type of detent or check mechanism integrated into at least one of the door hinges and which functions to inhibit uncontrolled swinging movement of the door by positively locating and holding (i.e. “checking”) the door in one or more mid-travel positions in addition to its fully-open position.
In view of increased consumer demand for motor vehicles equipped with advanced comfort and convenience features, many current vehicles are now provided with passive keyless entry systems to permit locking and release of the passenger doors without the use of traditional key-type manual entry systems. In this regard, some of the more popular features now provided with vehicle closure systems include power locking/unlocking and power release. These “powered” features are typically integrated into a primary latch assembly mounted to the passenger door and which is configured to include a latch mechanism, a latch release mechanism and at least one electric actuator. As is known, movement of the passenger door to its closed position causes the latch mechanism to engage a striker (mounted to the vehicle body) and shift the primary latch assembly into a latched mode. To subsequently release the passenger door for movement from its closed position toward an open position, an electric “power release” actuator can actuate the latch release mechanism to mechanically release the striker from the latch mechanism and shift the primary latch assembly into an unlatched mode.
As a further advancement, power door actuation systems have been developed which function to automatically swing the passenger door about its pivot axis between its open and closed positions. Typically, power door actuation systems include a power-operated device such as, for example, a power swing door actuator having an electric motor and a rotary-to-linear conversion device that are operable for converting the rotary output of the electric motor into translational movement of an extensible member. In many power door actuator arrangements, the power swing door actuator is mounted to the passenger door and the distal end of the extensible member is fixedly secured to the vehicle body. One example of a door-mounted power door actuation system is shown in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 9,174,517 with a power swing door actuator having a rotary-to-linear conversion device configured to include an externally-threaded leadscrew rotatively driven by the electric motor and an internally-threaded drive nut meshingly engaged with the leadscrew and to which the extensible member is attached. Accordingly, control over the speed and direction of rotation of the leadscrew results in control over the speed and direction of translational movement of the drive nut and the extensible member for controlling swinging movement of the passenger door between its open and closed positions. Operation of the power swing door actuator is controlled in coordination with the power release operation of the primary latch assembly via the passive keyless entry system.
Some other door actuation systems, known as door presenter systems, are configured to include a power-operated door presenter assembly operable to “present” the door by opening it only a predetermined amount (such as, for example, 30-50 mm) to a partially-open position so as to allow subsequent manual movement of the door to its fully-open position. The vehicle door is almost always retained in this partially-open or “presented” position, as mentioned above, by a door checking arrangement associated with one of the door hinges and/or incorporated into the power door presenter assembly.
Because the door presenter assembly is typically activated by the passive keyless entry system in conjunction with power release of the primary latch assembly, it would be beneficial to have a door presenter system configured to fully close the vehicle door in the event the user decides, once the door is deployed, to not open it. It would also be beneficial to provide a door presenter system configured to hold the door by the power-operated door presenter assembly, to move the door between its deployed and rest positions, and allow manual or power release of a holding mechanism associated with the door presenter assembly. It is also advantageous to overcome problems associated with current power door presenter systems in which the door can unintentionally open due to gravity forces and wind forces.
In view of the above, there remains a need to develop alternative power door presenter systems which address and overcome limitation associated with known power door actuation systems as well as to provide increased applicability while reducing cost and complexity.